Broncos offense won't start from scratch for Brock Osweiler
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos aren’t simplifying their offensive playbook for Brock Osweiler’s first start.
“We've got to let him play. I've got confidence in him. His teammates have got confidence in him," coach Gary Kubiak said this week. "I don't think you go and cut down and start talking that way because then you're not aggressive."
But that doesn’t mean the offense will look identical with Osweiler at quarterback as it did with Peyton Manning, who is sidelined for at least this week with a foot injury and won't travel for Sunday's game in Chicago against the Bears.
Kubiak was coy about potential changes the Broncos could make, but he admitted Osweiler’s athleticism, mobility and arm strength may give the Broncos options they did not have with Manning. That includes spending more time with the quarterback under center — a Kubiak staple that was discarded by mid-September when it was clear it did not work for Manning.
“We're running the Broncos system. We're not running last system or a different system," Kubiak said. "We're not doing that."
For one week, at least, the team belongs to Osweiler.
The fourth-year signal-caller, who will turn 25 on Sunday, refused to say this weekend's game is like an audition for him, either for the Broncos or as a potential free agent in 2016.
“I think anytime you put the weight of the world on yourself saying, 'I have to perform,' or, 'I have to get a completion — I have to throw a touchdown,' nine times out of 10, I think you're going to fail," Osweiler said. "I'm really keeping my focus small."
It’s a position that Kubiak can appreciate. He started five games in his nine years as a backup quarterback to John Elway in Denver, and Kubiak and Osweiler spent time on Tuesday talking about things that second-stringers truly appreciate.
Osweiler declined to reveal the details of that conversation, but Kubiak’s overall message was clear: Be confident, and know that your coaches and teammates are supporting you.
“I don't know if there's ever a good spot to throw a young guy in, but I will continue to go back to the fact that, to me, Brock has kind of been raised the way that you used to raise quarterbacks years ago. They get a couple of years behind a great player, they were developing and then they got thrown in there. Nowadays, guys get thrown in there very quickly through the draft and stuff like that,” Kubiak said. “I think he's had his preparation and he knows that a lot of people are going with him."
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones
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